1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses for applying fluid coatings to substrates, and, in particular, for applying liquid adhesives to roofing materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of devices are known for applying coatings to substrates and particularly for applying roofing adhesives and asphalt. The simplest devices are hand held brooms and squeegees that can be used manually to spread such coatings. A variety of mechanical sprayers, spreaders and combinations thereof are also known.
In general terms, the known devices suffer from numerous drawbacks. Use of hand-held brooms, rollers and squeegees is particularly labor intensive. In addition, it is difficult to obtain a substantially uniform coating using such hand-held devices. Sprayers may cause over-spray, particularly in windy conditions often found on roof tops. Some known spreaders are overly complex which makes them expensive and difficult to maintain. Other known spreaders are too inflexible to be adapted to a variety of substrates or coating specifications.
With respect to the installation of bituminous roof membranes, it is particularly important that the adhesive coating be applied in a substantially uniform and consistent layer to ensure proper adhesion of the bituminous roofing sheets. This is difficult to accomplish quickly and inexpensively with known devices and methods.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages and drawbacks of the known art and to provide simple, inexpensive, adaptable and reliable apparatuses for applying coatings to substrates, particularly roofing coatings and adhesives to roof tops.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment which follows.